Underworld

Underworld teams are another new addition to Bloodbowl with the Bloodbowl Competition Rules v6 featured in the "New Teams for Bloodbowl" document. Underworld teams are comprised of a mix of Goblins and Skaven, as well as Trolls.

"Occasionally," says New Teams for Bloodbowl, "the Skaven and Goblins living below all the hated races walking above in the sun team together to form Blood Bowl teams." The team is said to sleep, eat, and bathe in Warpstone, the powerful radioactive element responsible for many of the mutations and perhaps even the creation of the Skaven race. This kills off most potential players, but it has the benefit of creating what the fluff calls "fascinating" mutations.

It has been inferred that the brief entry given in New Teams for Bloodbowl might actually suggest that the goblins associated with Underworld teams are, in fact, Night Goblins, an offshoot of the Goblinoid race that has been seen on again and off again in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. This is a fortunate coincidence for modellers, since an earlier edition of the Ogres/Snotlings included several Night Goblin type models, which would be very useful for modelling the team for use on the pitch!

The BBRC has stated that the Underworld team is officially endorsed for league play, but has not been added to the main rules document at the request of Games Workshop top brass, who prefer not to add teams that do not yet have a dedicated range of miniatures. (On a side note, the team is available in the current, computerized version of Blood Bowl as produced by Cyanide Studios.)

The team is among the newest concepts for Bloodbowl, and as such, has not yet been extensively written about by various Blood Bowl fans and Leagues; however, it is beginning to gain popularity, and will likely become more common as the Blood Bowl Competition Rules v6 become more widespread.

Players Available

0-12 Underworld Goblins

0-2 Skaven Linemen

0-2 Skaven Throwers

0-2 Skaven Blitzers

0-1 Warpstone Trolls

It is worth noting that the Goblins and Skaven in the Underworld team do not have access to Secret Weapons. The Star Players Bomber Dribblesnot, Morg 'n' Thorg, Nobbla Blackwart, and Skitter Stab-Stab are available for inducement to Underworld teams.

 Play Style and Tactics 

As stated above, play of Underworld teams in major Leagues and Tournaments is still fairly new, and as such, there is very little conventional wisdom about the style of play best suited to the team. The roster seems heavily slanted toward an Agility Team.

There are a few decent starting skills available to an initial roster, which are detailed in the appropriate entries for each player type. However, all of the Skaven players suffer from the new Animosity skill, introduced specifically to deal with mixed racial teams in New Teams for Bloodbowl. Interestingly enough, none of the Goblins on the team have Animosity!

The creators of the team have suggested that the Underworld team has a great deal of potential, but the low armor value of most players makes it highly vulnerable. Early access to mutation can quickly make the team much more potent than would first be apparent, however.

 Famous Underworld Teams 

According to commentary in the Blood Bowl Competition Rules v6, the most famous Underworld team is the Underworld Creepers. The Creepers appeared fairly early in Blood Bowl fluff, around 2nd edition. No other named Underworld teams have been mentioned, to date.

 Miniatures 

There are no official Games Workshop miniatures currently produced for the Underworld team, although some players have converted existing Games Workshop models or used older, out of print models originally produced for earlier versions of the game. Fortunately, both Goblin and Skaven models are regularly available from the Games Workshop Blood Bowl range.

Alternative miniatures that might be useful have been produced by several companies, most notably Gaspez Arts and Impact Miniatures.